Ravens Owner Receives Praise & Criticism For His Response To ESPN Allegations
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Money and power. Fallout continues from Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti's press conference. Did his lengthy Q & A session put himself and the team in a precarious situation?
Investigative reporter Mike Hellgren has more on the new action being taken.
Reaction to the press conference was mixed. Now the NFL Players Association wants its own investigation into what the Ravens organization knew and when.
"Last week it was our competence being questioned; now it's integrity. Did we lie? Did we twist things?" Bisciotti said.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti's press conference has been called everything from classy to tasteless.
And while he contends reports of a cover up are false, ESPN remains confident Ravens managers knew what was on the Ray Rice video and worked to hide it.
"The Ravens wanted a lenient sentence and punishment from Roger Goodell of only two games--and that's exactly what they got," said ESPN investigative reporter Don Van Natta. "Dick Cass, the team president, was told by Michael Diamonstein, the lawyer for Ray Rice, what exactly was on that videotape."
"When your integrity is questioned, it's pretty humbling," Bisciotti said.
More big sponsors are expressing concern with how the NFL is handling domestic violence, including Southwest Airlines--which says it's ready to take action if necessary.
"A crisis of this magnitude takes time. It takes consistent good behavior to rectify it, and the long term financial impact should be mitigated," said David Warschawski, CEO of Warschawski Marketing and Communications.
As the players' union begins its own investigation into the Ravens and Rice, they are working with the league to set a date for a hearing in Rice's appeal--where power players will testify and be put to the test.
"People do what they have to do to protect what they have," said Cindy Colston, Ravens fan.
"I just want it to be over with. I think the fans want it to be over with," said James Laucht, Ravens fan. "There's probably more that we'll never know about."
On Tuesday, commissioner Goodell met with 11 former players, including former Ravens player Matt Birk, to discuss changes to the personal conduct policy. The commissioner wants those changes in place by the Super Bowl.
Both Rice and his lawyer have not given public comments since Bisciotti's press conference.
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